Seville to vote on school board recall amid controversy

A small South Valley community struggling with problems regarding their children's future. They claim school board members were using money, intended for students, for personal use.

The small rural community of Seville has been plagued by dirty water and hazardous flooding in recent years, but now the town is at odds over two of its school board members. A group of residents are trying to recall Rebecca Quintana and Reynold Esquivel.

Former school board member Erik Gonzalez, who is hoping to replace Esquivel if he's recalled, says Quintana and Esquivel failed to properly communicate with parents, unnecessarily canceled board meetings, and misused district money. "Traveling, going out on conferences, and money should have been spent on the kids or when they needed text books materials -- nothing was really they were not really looking into that," said Gonzalez.

Action News reached out to Rebecca Quintana who says the claims against her are bogus. Quintana's husband spoke to us on her behalf while she was at work. "My wife is a good board member. She was raised here, and went to school here, and she tries to do the best she can for the school. And these people, they don't want her here, they're just coming up with these lies," said Ray Quintana.

Quintana says Gonzalez is upset about losing the re-election for his seat in 2011 -- adding that his children don't even attend Stone Corral. Gonzalez says he sends his children to Woodlake where his wife is from, for babysitting reasons.

Voters now must choose whether they want to recall the two, and if they do, they need to pick a person to replace them.

Superintendent, principal and teacher Chris Kemper hopes whatever the outcome, children in Seville are put first. "The biggest hope is that we work together as a community since we are such a small community"

Ballots will be mailed out next month, and all votes must be cast and turned in by April 9th. Each candidate needs a simple majority to win.